HP Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-slim PC (XZ788UT) Review

Table of Contents

Design & Features

The front of the 8200 Elite Ultra-slim is home to a generous four USB 2.0 ports, plus mic and headphone jacks, the tray for the DVD±RW drive, and the power button.

The chassis of the Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-slim measures 2.6x9.9x10.5 inches (HWD), about the size of a thick hardback book. That's about as compact as cases come among small-form-factor (SFF) systems, unless you start taking out important components like optical drives and capable processors. If downsizing your office desktops isn’t at the front of your agenda, you might consider a bigger but related model: HP offers larger designs of this PC in its ordinary 8200 Elite (that is, non-"Ultra-slim") business desktops, with prices starting at $654.

If a pint-size PC is indeed what you're after, though, you can choose among three slightly different configuration options in the 8200 Elite Ultra-slim family. Their prices range from $719 to $914, with the $869 test unit we looked at (specifically, model XZ788UT) in the middle. A note on availability, though: When we wrote this in early August 2011, these three models were available via HP’s Large Enterprise Business site. If you were to look on HP’s Small & Medium Business site, the only option you’d see is the $869 configuration.

When you set up the Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-slim, you can lay it down flat, prop it up vertically using the included stand, or even mount it to the back of a monitor. (In the last case, you'd use the VESA-mount-compatible screw holes on the bottom of the chassis.) The system’s front bezel is made of matte-black plastic, with two silver stripes running down either side (or the top and bottom, depending on how you orient the system). On the front, you’ll find four USB 2.0 ports, mic and headphone jacks, the power switch, and the tray for the DVD±RW drive. In these days of USB ubiquity, we're happy HP included more than just a pair of USB ports up front.

The rest of the chassis is made of sturdy aluminum, painted black, except for the back panel, which remains unpainted. Back there live six USB 2.0 ports (for a total of 10), a Gigabit Ethernet jack, VGA and DisplayPort video-out ports, audio-in and -out jacks, the power receptacle, and two PS/2 ports. The PS/2 ports were a bit of a surprise on a PC this squeezed for space, but you’re going to need them both if you intend to use HP's bundled keyboard and mouse. The keyboard is a no-frills affair, but it feels solid. The laser mouse, on the other hand, feels rather cheap.

The back panel. We were surprised to see the two PS/2 ports, but you'll need them if you intend to use HP's bundled mouse and keyboard.

Opening the chassis is as easy as removing a single thumbscrew and sliding off the side panel. Despite the close quarters, you’ll be greeted by a well-designed and surprisingly minimalist layout. On one corner of the motherboard are two SO-DIMM slots. On our test unit, only one of the two was occupied, with a 4GB memory module. (Note that SO-DIMMs are the smaller style of memory modules, typically used by laptops.) Nothing blocks the memory slots—﻿﻿not always a given—﻿﻿so they are easily accessible if you want to add more RAM.

In another corner of the motherboard—near the exhaust fan—you’ll see an empty area. If you look closer, however, you’ll notice there’s actually a small expansion slot near it. This is a Mobile PCI Express Module (MXM) slot, which can be used to upgrade the system’s graphics. MXM is an industry-standard, but seldom-seen, slot that was designed to permit graphics upgrades for the kinds of computer that traditionally have not offered them, such as laptops and compact desktops.

Consider two things, however, before you ring up the MXM slot as a selling point. The first is that the Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-slim uses an external 135-watt power supply, which limits how much power you'll be able to deliver to a more robust graphics chip—and any supported MXM-format graphics upgrade will contribute only limited additional graphics speed, in any case. The second thing is that MXM graphics cards can be hard to come by. They are available, but you’ll have to look harder than you might for more common upgrade components.

If you need to get to the DVD±RW drive or hard drive, you’ll first have to remove the system’s front bezel, which pops off easily. The slim-design DVD±RW drive slides out without the need for any tools, as does the 2.5-inch hard drive cage that resides beneath it. (You will need a screwdriver with a Torx head, however, to remove the hard drive from its cage.) With the hard drive out of the way, you can access the motherboard’s Mini PCI Express slot, which in our test model housed the Wi-Fi radio.

Despite the tight interior, it’s not cramped inside this PC, and almost all of the components are easily accessible.

While you’re admiring how smartly HP designed the Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-slim’s compact interior, you can also give HP kudos for eliminating from the system’s manufacturing process two potentially toxic materials frequently found in PC components: brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). We first became aware of this eco-minded step when we reviewed the HP Compaq 8000f Elite Ultra-slim Desktop PC last year. Back then, however, this initiative put a price premium on the system. But today, the elimination of these substances is now standard operating procedure across many of HP’s product lines. If you buy this model, you won't be hit with a price penalty for being environmentally conscientious, but you will get the bragging rights.

The eco-friendly considerations go beyond the hardware manufacture, too. You’ll also find some handy software, HP Power Assist, on this system. It's designed to manage the Compaq 8200 Elite’s power consumption. Power Assist gives you access to settings that are more user-friendly and granular that what you’ll find in Windows’ default power settings.

Not only does HP Power Assistant help you manage the 8200’s power settings, but it even shows you how much power the system is consuming.

Another useful application HP included here is its ProtectTools suite, which adds additional layers of security to the system, such as pre-boot authentication, full-volume encryption, and theft-tracking and recovery features. HP Protect Tools seamlessly integrates with the Central Management for HP ProtectTools suite, making it easy for system administrators to remotely manage the 8200 Elite (and nearly any other HP business system that your company has in use, for that matter).

Rounding out the Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-slim’s software-based security offerings is a one-year subscription to Norton Internet Security 2011. Another useful application, Roxio Creator Business HD, doesn’t come pre-installed, but the disc comes in the box. Speaking of discs, the Compaq 8200 Elite also comes with a set of four system-recovery discs. That's a nice touch, as you won't be tasked with generating your own. Many systems make you do that.